The Kingsnakes • Live At The Old Waldorf June 5, 1981 CD
Live At The Old Waldorf June 5, 1981 is a rare live recording capturing The Kingsnakes during their late-1970s/early-1980s heyday, tearing through a set of Rock 'n' Roll, Rockabilly, Blues Rock and Garage Rock at San Francisco's legendary Old Waldorf. Fronted by Daniel Jeanrenaud, a musician whose remarkable career had already seen him touring with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, The Kingsnakes combined roots-driven Rock 'n' Roll with the raw energy of the West Coast Punk scene.
Recorded by Old Waldorf house soundman Terry Hammer on 5 June 1981, just a few months before The Kingsnakes returned to the venue to support Chuck Berry, this nine-track live set captures the band in full flight. Their repertoire includes Willie Dixon's My Babe, Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell and No Particular Place To Go, alongside originals such as Rock'n'Roll House, Not Nice, You Can't Bring Me Down and Good Rockin' City. The performance has the loose, electric atmosphere of a band more interested in playing hard and having fun than worrying about commercial success.
Two bonus studio tracks bring the story beyond the original 1981 recording: More, recorded in Paris in 1988, and Get Up!, recorded in Camden, London in 2011. Together they add further chapters to the extraordinary story of Daniel Jeanrenaud, who later became a cult figure in London's Camden Town and continued performing and busking decades after The Kingsnakes' San Francisco days. A fascinating document of a band operating at the crossroads of classic Rock 'n' Roll and the emerging West Coast Punk scene.
